speedbump
03-29-2004, 08:21 PM
I'm very new to in-line hockey, but not to skating.
I got started skating 33 years ago (when I was two and small enough for my mother to hold between her legs), but I got started with in-line hockey only a few months ago. I was invited to join a pick up game one day by a couple of guys leaving the court when I was coming down. I was going to practice speed skating and to hit the puck by myself. Because I am small, I was reluctant to take the risk of playing with others, but the guys were very encouraging, describing their game as ?gentle?. The next week I let the good weather suck me over and gave it a try.
I really, really enjoyed it! Since then I've played regularly, although sometimes I get very nervous about losing in a momentum competition when new players join us. (I?ve only met one other woman there so far.)
When I tell my other friends that I've been doing this they are alarmed and tell me to quit. They say the sport?s too violent. When I tell my husband that I really want to go and I?m not sure if it?s a good idea, he says, ?Go, go, go??
So here?s my question. When I first joined the outdoor group I learned about a women?s pickup game that was getting started at a local indoor hockey rink. I emailed first to find out what gear was required. It was more than I expected, and I was reluctant to spend so much without knowing what it would be like.
I decided to go and watch. I was very nervous because I expected that women who would have the gear would have to be serious players. I figured I would be lucky if I could keep up. It turned out not to be the case at all! Most of the players were still getting comfortable with skating, in addition to stick and puck. Then I wondered, ?What must have drawn them to in-line hockey??
I didn?t get a chance to ask. I left before they finished that night. I just couldn?t see investing so much in equipment to play a slower game than the one I was playing outdoors. I left wondering, though, how they had decided to make the commitment and the investment, what had made them get hooked.
For me I started figure skating and watched the hockey players get ready when we would leave the ice. A couple of summers ago I got a chance to hit the puck on roller blades with an experienced ice hockey player, and then I got to play road hockey once. I was hooked even though I discovered that I was likely too small to play safely with many other adults. (I ricochet a little easily.) I could at least enjoy hitting the puck by myself.
Well, so far the only injury I?ve done is to my neck from looking down at the puck too much. Other than that all collisions have been little mild ones. I still feel nervous that at some point a veteran won?t like that I?m keeping up and will want to take advantage of my size vulnerability. Until then I indulge my desire to take risks.
So I?m wondering how do other women get started, and what keeps them going, too?
I got started skating 33 years ago (when I was two and small enough for my mother to hold between her legs), but I got started with in-line hockey only a few months ago. I was invited to join a pick up game one day by a couple of guys leaving the court when I was coming down. I was going to practice speed skating and to hit the puck by myself. Because I am small, I was reluctant to take the risk of playing with others, but the guys were very encouraging, describing their game as ?gentle?. The next week I let the good weather suck me over and gave it a try.
I really, really enjoyed it! Since then I've played regularly, although sometimes I get very nervous about losing in a momentum competition when new players join us. (I?ve only met one other woman there so far.)
When I tell my other friends that I've been doing this they are alarmed and tell me to quit. They say the sport?s too violent. When I tell my husband that I really want to go and I?m not sure if it?s a good idea, he says, ?Go, go, go??
So here?s my question. When I first joined the outdoor group I learned about a women?s pickup game that was getting started at a local indoor hockey rink. I emailed first to find out what gear was required. It was more than I expected, and I was reluctant to spend so much without knowing what it would be like.
I decided to go and watch. I was very nervous because I expected that women who would have the gear would have to be serious players. I figured I would be lucky if I could keep up. It turned out not to be the case at all! Most of the players were still getting comfortable with skating, in addition to stick and puck. Then I wondered, ?What must have drawn them to in-line hockey??
I didn?t get a chance to ask. I left before they finished that night. I just couldn?t see investing so much in equipment to play a slower game than the one I was playing outdoors. I left wondering, though, how they had decided to make the commitment and the investment, what had made them get hooked.
For me I started figure skating and watched the hockey players get ready when we would leave the ice. A couple of summers ago I got a chance to hit the puck on roller blades with an experienced ice hockey player, and then I got to play road hockey once. I was hooked even though I discovered that I was likely too small to play safely with many other adults. (I ricochet a little easily.) I could at least enjoy hitting the puck by myself.
Well, so far the only injury I?ve done is to my neck from looking down at the puck too much. Other than that all collisions have been little mild ones. I still feel nervous that at some point a veteran won?t like that I?m keeping up and will want to take advantage of my size vulnerability. Until then I indulge my desire to take risks.
So I?m wondering how do other women get started, and what keeps them going, too?